Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Wednesday

Matthew Dancona

Miliband’s constitutional muddle

Glutton for punishment that I am, I watched all of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee’s cross-examination of David Miliband on Tuesday (you can share my pain by going to the committee’s website). Most of the press coverage has focused on the angry exchanges between the Foreign Secretary and the MPs, and particularly his justified fury at the invocation by the chairman, Michael Connarty, of the Munich agreement and Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler. This was a deplorable allusion, and Mr Miliband had a duty as well as a right to express the strongest possible objections. That aside, the hearings were also a fascinating – if often impenetrable – exploration of the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Clegg might not be the right choice for the Lib Dems

Nick Clegg is clearly the bookies and the Westminster favourite to succeed Ming but there are reasons to believe that he might be the wrong choice for the Lib Dems. Unlike the two main parties, Lib Dem leaders have to earn their media. Charles Kennedy and Paddy Ashdown were successful at doing this because they stood out from the herd at Westminster in a way that Clegg does not. Indeed, Clegg’s similarity to David Cameron might be a real problem for him especially as Cameron has already established himself in the public mind which Clegg has not. Why would voters chose Diet Cameron when they can have the real thing?

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The Brown Cameron clash at PMQs

Brown better today, but that’s not saying much. The Labour benches were obviously under instructions to cheer, but they still look on without expression with only a handful (Jack Straw especially) nodding to Brown’s points. But he still stammers and allows himself to be shouted down by the Tories. His new line (mentioned five times) is that there is a £6bn black hole in Tory plans, latching on to the dodgy maths in the Tory non dom calculation. Quite right too, a good target. Brown again repeated the lie that Cameron was the “economic adviser” to Norman Lamont, rather than a special adviser. Remind me, what was he doing when

Tuesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Who are the Evil Geniuses that Really Control Washington?

Via Marc Ambinder, here’s what the new Politics of Hope* has to say for itself: *Of course Hillary Clinton really is the candidate favoured by much of the Democratic establishment. But that’s at least partly because, for better or worse, she’s something of a known quantity. Beyond platitudes and an apparently limitless belief in the transformational power of his personality (something that might concern some people) it remains hard to say exactly what Barack Obama is for. He’s a great symbol and he might well prove a better President than Clinton (not necessarily such a high bar to clear, granted), but… Also, isn’t it usually the case that the candidate

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Did the Lib Dems get rid of Ming too quickly?

Tim Hames has a typically sharp column in The Times this morning about the Lib Dems decision to dump Ming. He argues that the polls are so volatile at the moment that the Lib Dems would have done better to wait until Christmas before pulling the trigger as by then they would have been certain where they were really losing their votes to and why.  Having said that, Hames is very much part of the growing Clegg bandwagon: “Despite that, there is only one direction that the Liberal Democrats can and should take to limit the damage of this debacle. Nick Clegg is so plainly the superior contender for the

Monday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The New British Invasion: Or, Thoughts on the Duty of Opposition, the Responsibility of Newspapers and Why the Netroots are Just Like the London Tabloids

Via the admirable Mr E, I find Matthew Parris offering some sound advice to the Tories. Parris, one of the most urbane journalists working in London, found himself making an argument he didn’t, on reflection, quite believe: Here was the wise argument: “David Cameron and his Conservative colleagues were entitled to their half-hour of fun at Prime Minister’s Questions, at Brown’s expense. They landed their punches. But they should not think this will serve as opposition policy for the next two years. ‘Hah-nah-nah’ does not add up to a manifesto, and the British electorate dislike knockabout. “After a deserved week of crowing, the Tories should now return to fleshing out

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why Nick Clegg will be next

I regard Nick Clegg as much of a certainty to replace Ming as Blair was to succeed John Smith in 1994. Some Coffee Housers have taken me to task for saying that this is bad for Cameron and good for Brown. What has Clegg ever done, they ask. Well not much, I admit, but from what I know of him I reckon he has the intellect and energy to do a great deal. He is the best hope of restoring the zing the LibDems need. Huhne is Alistair Darling without the eyebrows: cerebral but ineffective. He’ll bomb.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

What they’re saying in the bars of Westminster about Ming’s departure

So whodunit? That’s the question in the bars at Westminster, where an excited Commons has just finished voting. Fingers are being pointed at the impatient Chris Huhne, with co-conspirators in the Lords. Lib Dem MPs seem genuinely stunned. The most popular theory (in Strangers’ Bar at least) is that Ming realised he was done for and wanted to quit before a messy and ignominious assassination. Then he flew back to Edinburgh in a “to hell with you all” type of mood. If this is true, it’s unwise of him not to make his own statement. But he never did have a feel for political theatrics. And this, of course, was

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Ming’s resignation letter

At last, a statement from Sir Menzies… “It has become clear that following the prime minister’s decision not to hold an election, questions about the leadership are getting in the way of further progress by the party. Accordingly, I now submit my resignation as leader with immediate effect”. Hilarious. Has all the authenticity of a statement drafted for a deposed African ruler. I suspect they had to sedate Elspeth, Ming’s formidable wife, before she let him sign it. So the LibDems perhaps do have a bit to learn about coups after all. Brown will want Clegg to win – posh enough to repel left wing voters and suck support from

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Forget the men in grey suits, the men in sandals are more ruthless

I have to say, these Lib Dems are getting good at it. It took the Tories about a decade before they could get their leadership coups down to the 48 hour wonder we have just seen here. The brutality is breathtaking. Where is Ming? Gagged and bound somewhere? Can Coffee House readers remember that last party leader who was not even allowed the dignity of announcing his own resignation? You can smell the grapeshot.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Ming Campbell resigns as Lib Dem leader

Simon Hughes and Vince Cable have just announced that Ming Campbell has resigned as leader of the Lib Dems. Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne are both expected to run for the leadership, with Clegg starting as the favourite. The timetable for the leadership contest will be announced on Tuesday. The immediate beneficiary of Ming’s departure is Gordon Brown as Ming’s departure will take the spotlight off his problems. While those vying to succeed Ming are all likely to have more appeal in Southern Tory / Lib Dem marginals than he did.  

Sunday

Matthew Dancona

The Blairites can’t fight the last war all over again without destroying Labour

Tony Blair, as I report in today’s Sunday Telegraph, is trying to rein in his supporters, keen that they not become to Gordon what the Eurosceptic ‘Bastards’ were to John Major. The former PM is right that his own reputation will suffer if a neo-Blairite rump is perceived to be sabotaging Brown. Such considerations, however, do not seem to have restrained Lord Falconer, the ultra-Blairite former Lord Chancellor, who pointedly calls on Gordon today to offer a ‘vision’ – the very word used by the PM when he explained why he was not holding an election now. It is widely reported that Alan Milburn, Stephen Byers and Charles Clarke are

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Betting on the Lib Dems

Ladbrokes today updates its odds for the inevitable Lib Dem leadership race, and – irritatingly for the Tories – Nick Clegg is the clear frontrunner. Some odds: Nick Clegg 4/5 Chris Huhne 3/1 David Laws 8/1 Ed Davey 10/1 Simon Hughes 12/1 Charles Kennedy 16/1 Alistair Carmichael 16/1 Vincent Cable 16/1 Lembit Opik 16/1 Paddy Ashdown 25/1 Gabriela Irimia 500/1 Of the above, I suspect the Cheeky Girl would do quite well. But it is their funeral….

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

What Cameron must do now | 14 October 2007

Today’s newspapers are another treat for Conservatives with a taste for schadenfreude. Blair has, overnight, denied that he’s authorising briefings against Brown. But he doesn’t need to. They’ve been at it for days, not just old Blairites but non-aligned backbenchers. Brown is a dud, they proclaim, with no vision. Cameron is a hero, the polls proclaim, setting the agenda. Just a fortnight ago, the conventional wisdom was the exact opposite. The tables are turning too often for my liking: I’d like them bolted down where they are. But only Cameron can do that, and only by bolting down the vision of Conservatism he announced in Blackpool. Had he flopped in

Matthew Dancona

Another panic-induced u-turn

Andy Burnham is a talented minister but his interview in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph represents yet another ignominious U-turn by this Government in response to Conservative pressure. For almost two years, Labour’s unshakeable response to David Cameron’s belief that marriage should be recognised in the tax system has been to say, scornfully, that policy should help all children, not endorse one family structure rather than another. Only 12 days ago, Gordon Brown invoked the words of Jesus – ‘suffer the children’ – to condemn the Tory position on tax and marriage. Mr Burnham’s remarks represent a spectacular capitulation. Hot on the heels of Alistair Darling’s desperate bid to ape George Osborne’s

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

No lead, no loyalty

Loyalty only lasts as long as your opinion poll lead. Mutinous Labour voices liven up the Sunday press and an ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph gives the Tories a seven point lead at 43 per cent to 36. Expect a return of the Blairites. Like Blake’s Seven, the leader may have gone but it seems they battle on nonetheless. Fun fun fun….

Saturday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Are Labour wedded to stealing every Tory idea?

Andy Burnham saying that “marriage is best for kids” and that it is “not wrong that the tax system should recognise commitment and marriage” is a victory for common sense. But it is also another example of the Brown government’s cynical opportunism and lack of any new ideas. As recently as the Labour conference, Gordon Brown was quoting scripture to suggest that the Tory commitment to encouraging marriage through the tax system was somehow un-Christian. While Harriet Harman, Brown’s deputy, lashed out at David Cameron for his pro-marriage policies, arguing that, “Cameron’s new tax allowance proposal would squander public money on those who need it least and carry the unmistakable

John Andrews

It has more companies than citizens, but the prince’s tiny tax haven is thriving

John Andrews on city life in Liechtenstein. The speed limit on Swiss motorways is 120km per hour and, if you’re travelling from northern Italy to southern Germany through Switzerland at exactly that speed, you’ll spend a scant ten minutes traversing the entire western border of the sovereign Principality of Liechtenstein. Glance to your right about halfway up the country and you’ll notice a fairy-tale castle perched on a hill, overlooking a small town. This town, as well as being the geographical centre of the tiny, landlocked state (the fourth smallest in Europe), is also its political focal point: welcome to Vaduz. It was founded in the 13th century, and both it and

The Spectator

From clunk to cluck

Rattled, hoarse and angry, Gordon Brown did not look a happy man at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. Small wonder: it is only weeks since his clunking fist was pounding the Tories into submission. Now, he has allowed himself to be caricatured as a clucking chicken, as fearful of an election as he is of an EU referendum. ‘How long are we going to have to wait till the past makes way for the future?’ David Cameron asked — and the PM had no convincing reply. It may be true that Mr Brown’s decision not to go to the country this November will fast fade from public memory, and that

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

The quality of a political speech is a symptom of popularity not a cause

Epiphenomenalism is, as 16-letter words go, not an obvious hook with which, dear reader, to draw you to this column; but let me explain; because I think I may be an epiphenomenalist. My dictionary defines this as the doctrine that consciousness is merely a by-product of physiological processes and has no power to affect them: that we do not weep because we’re sad, but rather that we are sad because we’re weeping. The idea is not quite as crazy as it sounds. Tony Blair did not sound passionately sincere because he was passionately sincere. He mastered the knack of delivering his lines with such passionate sincerity that he became spellbound